Generator Projects are pleased to present The Shape; an exhibition of new work by Lachlann Rattray, Darren Banks & Ben Robinson, prompted by the compelling correlation between chance and determinism and its implementation in European horror cinema. Having considered the antinomical interrelationship between chance and determinism throughout Dario Argento's Tenebrae; Rattray, Banks & Robinson will present a string of recently developed multimedia installations insinuating the convoluted narrative and surreal ultra-violence indigenous to the Italian splatter movie.

For this work, Lachlann Rattray will explore the use of deterministic and chaotic functions and how they can reflect and model real world systems. These pieces are drawn from the ideas of chance and random occurrences present in the narrative structures of many horror stories; the most innocuous of decisions made by a character can have a greatly exaggerated effect as the story progresses. Similarly, the algorithms used to create these pieces (The Lorenz Attractor and John Conway's Game of Life) utilize very simple starting points, which quickly balloon to form complex structures and patterns. By generating audio and printed feedback, the output of the equations cease to exist only within the programs and begin to have their own effect on the space.

Darren Banks will present Bloody Dreams, Visions & Tourism; a multi- screen installation using found footage and analogue television sets. Each television will be given its own horror movie trope; through a process of selection, isolation, editing and looping, new objects are formed. Recurring horror motifs take on new meaning formally and thematically - horror starts to manifest itself structurally into the work as object and film become interwoven.

Ben Robinson will unveil Death Paints Red Daubings - an amalgamation of filmic and sculptural elements that form a pastiche of the traditional Italian Giallo genre. Encouraging distancing effects over naturalistic acting, the film will follow the various conventions of Giallo cinema, while the installation focuses attention on the range of tricks and shock effects involved in creating the cinematic illusion.

Dawn Chorus, by Marcus Coates, uses unique digital methods to explore the relationship between birdsong and the human voice, drawing out similarities between the behaviour of birds and humans.

Working with wildlife sound recordist Geoff Sample, Coates placed 14 microphones around woodland to record birdsong early one morning in Northumberland. From this multi-track recording, each song was slowed down up to 16 times. Human participants copied this slowed down song, filmed in their everyday surroundings including an underground car-park, an osteopathic clinic and a bath-tub. The resulting video footage was then speeded up, returning the bird mimicry into its %u2018real' register

Coates' installation is, he feels, quintessentially British, because of our attachment to wildlife. "It's outside the human lifestyle because we get up too late," he says. "I wanted to create something you could experience again and again."

The artist will give an illustrated talk about his work, in the Arts Centre Cinema at 6pm on Wednesday 21 March. This will be followed by a viewing of Dawn Chorus in Gallery 1; an opportunity to meet the artist informally.

This exhibition attempt to create a dialogue between Israel's three main art centers: Tel Aviv, Jerualem and Haifa. Divided into two parts, historical and contemporary, the exhibition will be accompanied by events, meetings, discussion, musical performances and more.

Storageroom features complete digitized exhibitions ready for download and display at various venues by secondary curators.

The Storageroom features complete exhibitions that are available for download, which underwent a process of digitalization so as to preserve the full quality after they have been downloaded in their respective formats (video, sound, photography, text etc.). After they have been downloaded, the exhibitions could be displayed in the venues available to the secondary curators (those who chose to download the exhibitions) and the conditions they have at their disposal.

The same exhibition could be displayed simultaneously by agents of completely dissimilar nature and financial means: as the exhibition will be displayed differently, and convey cultural and curatorial perceptions that reflect not only the perception of the exhibition%u2019s curators, but also those of the secondary curators displaying it.

Steps:
1. Exhibition digitized preserving the full quality of media. Exhibiting recommendations and instructions compiled.
2. Exhibition is uploaded by artist or curator, copyright delegated to Storageroom
3. Exhibition downloaded by secondary curator, undigitized and exhibited at available venue

Thursday, March 01, 2012

Presented at Canary Warf Screen as part of 'The City in the City' programme

In a playful echo of Darwin's publication 'The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals', 'Follow the Voice' establishes striking parallels between a range of familiar man-made sounds and an equally evocative chorus of animal cries and calls. Chasing (and carefully recording) pockets of sound around the contemporary urban landscape of Shrewsbury, Marcus Coates uncovers and explores unexpected patterns of sonic kinship

Isolating a number of sounds from the continuous hubbub of everyday background noise, including the 'beep' of the supermarket checkout, the siren of a police car and the noises of a school playground, Coates subjects the audio components of each video sequence to varying levels of manipulation (speeding them up or slowing them down to alter their pitch). As if tuning in to the right wavelength on this sonic sliding scale, he then adds to the mix by introducing field recordings of animals and birds whose songs and cries are uncannily identical to his newly-dislocated, disembodied sounds. Highlighting the rising-and-falling, one and two-note structure of primitive calls expressing recognition or alarm that are common across disparate species, 'Follow the Voice' captures the heightened feeling of interconnectedness at the heart of Darwin's view of the world, while reminding us of the spirit of curiosity and discovery that infuses Darwin's ideas.

Alongside an exhibition presentation at the Unitarian Church in Darwin's birthplace of Shrewsbury, Coates' work also accompanied Opera North's latest production 'The Weatherman' throughout July 2009 at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury (as part of Shift Time Festival), The Sage in Gateshead and Howard Assembly Rooms in Leeds

'Follow the Voice' was co-commissioned with Shropshire Museums Services and funded by Arts Council England.

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Workplace Gallery is a contemporary art gallery run by artists.
Based in Gateshead UK, Workplace Gallery represents a portfolio of emerging and established artists through the gallery programme, curatorial projects and international art fairs.